Live Wes Montgomery footage from 1965

**Nils** · 01-06-2016, 04:59 PM

You may all have seen this before, but it is well worth watching: 30 minutes of live footage with Wes from a jazz workshop recorded in Germany during his European tour in 1965. Fine performances by the man himself and also Hans Koller, Martial Solal and Johnny Griffin. Be sure to check out the version of West Coast Blues towards the end.

This never made it unto the Jazz Icons DVD for some reason (copyrights?). Shame really.

Anyway, enjoy.

**Dave70** · 01-08-2016, 11:34 AM

Haven't seen this yet, cool man.

**lawson-stone** · 01-08-2016, 07:09 PM

Whoa. That's wonderful.

At the very stratosphere and beyond of talent, I tend to classify equally astoundingly talented people as "masters" or "magicians."

Wes Montgomery is definitely one of the magicians. He just does stuff that you can't say how or where it came from, it is just … there…

**AlsoRan** · 01-08-2016, 07:17 PM

Great seeing the guitar getting some love from brass players!

**Alder Statesman** · 01-09-2016, 12:33 AM

One of the coolest videos in a long time. Thanks!

**gggomez** · 01-09-2016, 01:20 AM

Ridiculous. It makes my heart race and sweat with excitement.

**fumblefingers** · 01-09-2016, 02:18 AM

Thanks for the link, yep we've all seen that, or at least a lot of us have.

not enough Wes, would be my take. another observation would be that the pianist was an over-playing pain in the keester.

there is another vid out there where Wes was looking at the pianist with a.... less than pleased expression, lol. He (the pianist) seemed to be a classical virtuoso who converted to jazz, and couldn't help but show off his chops at all times. Or so it seems to me...

**Bob P.** · 01-09-2016, 11:22 AM

Truly great playing. A shame Wes died at such a relatively young age. I believe he was only in his mid- 40's at the time of his passing. Just an observation, but did anyone else notice that when he was just doing single lines in his soloing, that he seemed to not ever use his 4th finger? I just found that interesting. Can't help but wonder if it somehow was a by-product of all the octave playing he became noted for. Amazing, amazing player, to say the least.

Bob P.

**Nils** · 01-09-2016, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by fumblefingers

Thanks for the link, yep we've all seen that, or at least a lot of us have.

not enough Wes, would be my take. another observation would be that the pianist was an over-playing pain in the keester.

there is another vid out there where Wes was looking at the pianist with a.... less than pleased expression, lol. He (the pianist) seemed to be a classical virtuoso who converted to jazz, and couldn't help but show off his chops at all times. Or so it seems to me...

Point taken, Fumblefingers, though somehow I can better live with Martial Solal's playing - perhaps I even find his expressive style strangely charming. (Too me, the odd one out in this video is the barytone player, whose solos are not on a par with the others...)

**fumblefingers** · 01-09-2016, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by Bob P.

Truly great playing. A shame Wes died at such a relatively young age. I believe he was only in his mid- 40's at the time of his passing. Just an observation, but did anyone else notice that when he was just doing single lines in his soloing, that he seemed to not ever use his 4th finger? I just found that interesting. Can't help but wonder if it somehow was a by-product of all the octave playing he became noted for. Amazing, amazing player, to say the least.

Bob P.

i've heard people opine that was influenced by blues guitarist tradition. seems reasonable.

**fumblefingers** · 01-09-2016, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Nils

Point taken, Fumblefingers, though somehow I can better live with Martial Solal's playing - perhaps I even find his expressive style strangely charming. (Too me, the odd one out in this video is the barytone player, whose solos are not on a par with the others...)

the bari player eh? yeah i skipped over him at first but just re-listened.

what do we think - an example of a "one-note Johnny"?

**lawson-stone** · 01-09-2016, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by fumblefingers

Thanks for the link, yep we've all seen that, or at least a lot of us have.

not enough Wes, would be my take. another observation would be that the pianist was an over-playing pain in the keester.

there is another vid out there where Wes was looking at the pianist with a.... less than pleased expression, lol. He (the pianist) seemed to be a classical virtuoso who converted to jazz, and couldn't help but show off his chops at all times. Or so it seems to me...

"We" all haven't. I"ve been a Wes fan for 30 years and hunted obsessively for old recordings and video, and never seen this. I'm so grateful for the posting. Many thanks!

**sgcim** · 01-09-2016, 03:30 PM

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to call the great Martial Solal an 'overplaying pain in the keester'
is to misunderstand this great man's style completely.

His reharmonization of "OGDS" had me on the edge of my chair, and I'm still trying to figure out what he did with Blue Monk.
He recorded a duo LP with Jimmy Raney called "The Date", and his harmonic inventiveness complimented Raney's playing perfectly.
Solal's solos on the Wes video were IMHO great works of art, and I'm going to be going back to this superstar jazz session again to appreciate the work of Scott, Koller, Solal, Griffin, Wes and the rhythm section.
To me, this is what great jazz was, and frankly isn't, anymore.

**grahambop** · 01-09-2016, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by fumblefingers

the bari player eh? yeah i skipped over him at first but just re-listened.

what do we think - an example of a "one-note Johnny"?

I believe that was Ronnie Ross. Agreed this video was not his finest hour for some reason, but he could play - here's a better example:

Apparently he played with Woody Herman and Clark Terry, I was not aware of that.

**lawson-stone** · 01-09-2016, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by sgcim

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to call the great Martial Solal an 'overplaying pain in the keester'
is to misunderstand this great man's style completely.

His reharmonization of "OGDS" had me on the edge of my chair, and I'm still trying to figure out what he did with Blue Monk.
He recorded a duo LP with Jimmy Raney called "The Date", and his harmonic inventiveness complimented Raney's playing perfectly.
Solal's solos on the Wes video were IMHO great works of art, and I'm going to be going back to this superstar jazz session again to appreciate the work of Scott, Koller, Solal, Griffin, Wes and the rhythm section.
To me, this is what great jazz was, and frankly isn't, anymore.

I agree. It's rare that music that is "over my head" is still to me appealing. Usually I think "Yuck" and then my ear gets opened to it. But Solal's playing on this entire set was outside my usual range of sensibility, but immediately grabbed me. He also seemed to be having a wonderful time playing, which was fun too.

**Nils** · 01-10-2016, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by sgcim

He recorded a duo LP with Jimmy Raney called "The Date", and his harmonic inventiveness complimented Raney's playing perfectly.

Wow, I wasn't aware of this - can imagine that they would suit each other really well. When was it recorded, and who released it? I'll definitely have to track it down. Thanks...

**Nils** · 01-10-2016, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by grahambop

I believe that was Ronnie Ross. Agreed this video was not his finest hour for some reason, but he could play - here's a better example

Thanks for posting this. He sounded great on that recording. The video must have caught him on an off-day, no doubt.

**Stringswinger** · 01-10-2016, 12:57 PM

The master at work! Thanks for posting...

**fumblefingers** · 01-10-2016, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by sgcim

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to call the great Martial Solal an 'overplaying pain in the keester'
is to misunderstand this great man's style completely.

His reharmonization of "OGDS" had me on the edge of my chair, and I'm still trying to figure out what he did with Blue Monk.
He recorded a duo LP with Jimmy Raney called "The Date", and his harmonic inventiveness complimented Raney's playing perfectly.
Solal's solos on the Wes video were IMHO great works of art, and I'm going to be going back to this superstar jazz session again to appreciate the work of Scott, Koller, Solal, Griffin, Wes and the rhythm section.
To me, this is what great jazz was, and frankly isn't, anymore.

that's cool, he could certainly play, couldn't he?

Wynton Kelly who also played with Wes in 1965 couldn't play like that, so naturally was more "measured", and sounded great. it would have been interesting to have heard Oscar Peterson in this setting, instead of Martial.

if Martial would have just held back a little on the super chops, it would have been more effective IMO. i remember reading in The Penguin Guide how George Benson starts his solos "deceptively" slow or something like that.

you know the old rule for storytelling, build the tension, make them wait for it, then hit it! even if your the baddest mofo going.

**sgcim** · 01-10-2016, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by Nils

Wow, I wasn't aware of this - can imagine that they would suit each other really well. When was it recorded, and who released it? I'll definitely have to track it down. Thanks...

It's hard to find for a reasonable price. Jimmy's son, Jon is a great guy/pianist, and he was kind enough to send me some tracks from it, but it's on a computer I got rid of, so I don't have access to it anymore.

I don't know what French label it's on, but it's called "The Date With Jim" (OSLT), and you can probably find it on ebay or GEMM.

**pubylakeg** · 01-10-2016, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by Nils

Wow, I wasn't aware of this - can imagine that they would suit each other really well. When was it recorded, and who released it? I'll definitely have to track it down. Thanks...

Easy enough to track down, vinyl copy for sale here, with label, cat no. etc,
Jimmy Raney, Martial Solal - The Date (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs

**sgcim** · 01-10-2016, 11:35 PM

That's a pretty good price, compared to the $40 a French guy wanted for it. Thanks PLK!

**Nils** · 01-11-2016, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by pubylakeg

Easy enough to track down, vinyl copy for sale here, with label, cat no. etc,
Jimmy Raney, Martial Solal - The Date (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs

Just ordered a copy earlier today through a seller in Sweden, but thanks for the heads up - and sorry if I beat someone else to it.

**Jehu** · 02-26-2016, 03:36 AM

Ay Caramba!

I've had this bookmarked forever and finally got around to watching it... and I must say, I have a new admiration for Martial Solal. Jeepers! What a player.

I've had his 'Live at Newport' album and could never really get into it, but this won me over. I might have to revisit that album.